As it happened: Tim Peake's first spacewalk

Summary

British astronaut Tim Peake completed his first spacewalk at 17:31 GMT on Friday 15 January after nearly five hours in space
Intended to be longer than six hours, the walk was cut short after his US colleague Tim Kopra reported water in his helmet
The duo successfully completed their main job, replacing a faulty unit that regulates power from the station's solar panels
Other scheduled work, including routing many metres of cables for new docking ports, was left for future spacewalks
Major Tim is currently on a six-month mission to the space station for the European Space Agency

Live Reporting

Jonathan Webb, Helen Briggs and Bernadette McCague

Look back in time to the first ever spacewalkpublished at 12:52
While we are waiting for today's spacewalk to begin, take a moment to remember what Alexei Leonov went through.
He was the first human ever to conduct a spacewalk - back in 1965.
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And read this BBC special feature for the full story:
"The First Spacewalk"
Switching to internal battery powerpublished at 12:50
The two astronauts, Tim Kopra and Tim Peake, are making all the adjustments now to make their spacesuits totally self-sufficient, ready to step into space.
Not long now: "We are just about at vacuum"published at 12:46
The commentary from Nasa indicates that the pressure in the airlock is almost where it needs to be - zero.
Then, after a few further checks, the outer door will open and the spacewalk can commence.
Don't forget you can watch using the "Live Coverage" tab above.
An air of controlled, unhurried tensionpublished at 12:38
David Shukman
Science editor, BBC News
Hearing Tim Peake’s voice relayed from his helmet, running through his final checks, is a highly evocative reminder of how hazardous spacewalks can be.
Every imaginable threat has to be thought about, every possible scenario prepared for.
The spacesuits act as miniature spaceships, providing life support and protection, and each step before exiting the ISS requires extreme care.
Nothing is rushed.
Spacewalks have become a standard feature of life in orbit but they are never routine, and always come with an air of controlled tension.
Slowly decompressing in the airlockpublished at 12:31
The pressure in the airlock is being steadily lowered.
To begin with it was the same as inside the ISS - which is kept at the same as Earth's atmospheric pressure.
It has now reached five pounds per square inch - about 0.3 atmospheres - where the process pauses for the crew to check the condition of the astronauts' suits.
Meanwhile, Tim is apparently faring just fine...
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Door closes behind the astronautspublished at 12:20
As you can see in the live video coverage (click on the tab above) - the airlock door has been closed behind Tim Kopra and Tim Peake.
On the inside of that door, station commander Scott Kelly is working through the checklist of final preparations.
Image source, Nasa/BBC
get involved
Get in touchpublished at 12:19
Some comments from our Facebook page, external:
Quote Message
Good luck on today's walk Tim Peake - have a great time!
David Dalby
Quote Message
I'm so excited for Tim his family and colleagues, I can't imagine the emotions they must be experiencing right now. It's amazing and I just can't wait to witness Tim's space walk.
Theresa Gernonn
Exhilarating feeling: Tim's expectationspublished at 12:10
This is what Tim Peake had to say earlier in the week, when he spoke to BBC Stargazing Live about today's walk:
Quote Message
I think it's going to be the most exhilarating feeling imaginable
Both astronauts are in the airlockpublished at 12:01
The two Tims have now both floated through into the airlock...
Live now: Video coverage of preparationspublished at 11:56
Use the "Live Coverage" tab above to watch live video from Nasa as the final spacewalk preparations are made.
Storms and good wishes down belowpublished at 11:53
Songwriter Gary Kemp sent a message:
And the official ISS account posted this image of Hurricane Alex, snapped earlier this morning:
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Getting everything in place for spacepublished at 11:47
The two Tims are arranging their tools ready for the spacewalk, as you can see in this photo released by the European Space Agency (Esa):
Image source, Esa
Breathing pure O2 to get the body readypublished at 11:28
The European Space Agency tweets:
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For two hours before a spacewalk, astronauts breathe pure oxygen to clear the nitrogen from their bloodstream.
This is necessary because nitrogen can cause bubbles in the low pressure they will experience outside - the same problem faced by deep-sea divers, known as "the bends".
get involved
Send us your commentspublished at 11:26
Tracy McLaughlin, on Facebook, external:
Quote Message
I feel all goosebumpy - I can't imagine how excited you must be. Good luck Tim, all of us space-walking wannabes are right there with you in spirit!
Jean Prince tweets, external:
Quote Message
Hope you will have a few minutes to just enjoy the view!
An astronaut's guide to spacewalkingpublished at 11:23
Tim is the first "official" British astronaut in that he went into space for the European Space Agency (Esa) with the Union Jack on his suit.
One of the three other British-born astronauts who have been into space with Nasa, as US citizens, spoke to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning.
"It is one of the hardest things astronauts ever have to do," said Dr Nicholas Patrick.
"Everything has to be planned meticulously."
Quote Message
When you float out it's a remarkable feeling. There’s something intangible… about being in a suit and separated from space… by just a quarter of an inch of plexiglass.
Dr Nicholas Patrick, Nasa astronaut
A big day ahead for Major Timpublished at 11:08
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Tim Peake's first spacewalk!
He and fellow astronaut Tim Kopra, from Nasa, are expected to leave the Space Station at about 12:55 GMT.
Last night, Tim Peake sent this tweet:
And this morning, Nasa astronaut Terry Virts sent this from the Johnson Space Center in Houston